Ukrainian business begins to see benefits of EU association agreement

The Ukrainian economy is successfully integrating with the European Union, just one of many positive aspects of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which came into effect in September 2017 and is now offering real results.

That is the opinion of Hugues Mingarelli, the head of the European Union’s delegation in Ukraine. Speaking at a forum of small and medium-sized businesses in the city of Kharkiv, Mr Mingarelli highlighted that 42 per cent of Ukraine’s exports went to the EU last year, compared to 2014 when EU-directed exports amounted to just 25 per cent.

“If we can integrate Ukraine into the common market, this will create very positive conditions for investors, for trade, and finally, for creating jobs in Ukraine,” he said.

Mr Mingarelli also pointed out that the Kharkiv region has a huge potential for the development of EU-Ukraine bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of small and medium-sized enterprises, energy efficiency, decentralisation and healthcare.